I don't understand how going somewhere else could help me find myself. As far as I can tell, my self is right here all the time. I can come to understand that the world is a lot bigger than I knew before, and that means my self is a lot less important too. I may meet people who are happier, so I know I can be too, and I may meet people who have more to give to others, so I know I can too. More importantly, I can learn that where I am is a meaningless as weather to a cave dweller, that the people around me are, after language barriers, cultural practices and clothing styles, the same the world over. Language, clothing, and culture are not who or what a person is. So, by extension, no place is better than another. No group of strangers are going to offer a fundamentally different human experience simply because we are all human already.

So why are we so unhappy where we are? Possibly because we have surrendered some responsibility for our happiness to some external person, place or thing. Cruising to far off places offers no escape from that; if we escape from one master, we find another.

Don't go cruising to change your state of mind. Cruise for the adventure alone!

But isn't that what adventure is for ... to challenge your mind, your capabilities. Maybe for some adventure is just for the adrenaline rush but for me it has always been about finding those new limits be they physical, mental or emotional. And the mind controls them all. Some have said they already "know themselves". How can you really, there are too many experiences you have never had and you are constantly changing. We never really know ourselves because we are a work in process. The best we can do is know ourselves better today than we did yesterday. I think any thing that really takes you out of your comfort zone, like running a marathon, climbing a big mountain, surviving cancer, or sailing an ocean has a great potential to teach you something about yourself that you might never have discovered sitting at home and staying in those comfort zones.

I don't understand how going somewhere else could help me find myself. As far as I can tell, my self is right here all the time. I can come to understand that the world is a lot bigger than I knew before, and that means my self is a lot less important too. I may meet people who are happier, so I know I can be too, and I may meet people who have more to give to others, so I know I can too. More importantly, I can learn that where I am is a meaningless as weather to a cave dweller, that the people around me are, after language barriers, cultural practices and clothing styles, the same the world over. Language, clothing, and culture are not who or what a person is. So, by extension, no place is better than another. No group of strangers are going to offer a fundamentally different human experience simply because we are all human already.

So why are we so unhappy where we are? Possibly because we have surrendered some responsibility for our happiness to some external person, place or thing. Cruising to far off places offers no escape from that; if we escape from one master, we find another.

Don't go cruising to change your state of mind. Cruise for the adventure alone!

It's a nice thought Sandy, but naive in reality. It would be great if it was true.

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__________________One must live the way one thinks, or end up thinking the way one lives - Paul Bourget

surrounding yourself with better people will make you a better person, sailors tend to be better people. If you happen to come across yourself as your traveling remember to say hello,,,, your a better person now.

Interesting question that does relate a lot to sailing but really goes much further. I think you have gotten some very good answers from Canucksailor, daddle and Doodles, but in the end I think Sandy nailed it.

If your goal it to find yourself or true happiness, achieve inner peace, self awareness, or any other version of the above it is not necessary to go anywhere to do it. It is all within you no matter where you are or where you go.

But that has nothing to do with going sailing. It can be a great adventure and learning experience and a whole heap of fun. Do it and enjoy.

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The water is always bluer on the other side of the ocean.

I've run away twice. Once from college to the merchant marines; once as an adult post divorce to Washington DC for 3 years. Home for a year, now gone again to LA. When you first let go of the familiar, there is a mix of excitement and longing. Both will fade. Which in my experience leaves more room for new excitement.

Some folks just don't like new excitement. I can't get my hometown buddies off their arses to come visit me anywhere, but when I get home, we pick right up with the golf, poker, beers etc. And I really wouldn't want the old familiar boys intruding on my new adventures anyway.

Ultimately, it's about you. If you want to go, and he wants to stay, odds are one of you will be gone somewhere soon. Hard to drag another along on your personal path. Cheers.

Respective of the little experience I have had cruising so far (though I have done plenty of adventuring of other sorts) I enjoy the getting there and it does affect me in posative ways as any sort of adventuring does. As has been written already the reason I choose adventure is because it does bring me up against my limits. Mark is right though... will always be the slob I am at times and the saint as well maybe with a bit of tempering and wisdom but essentially the same.

Along the lines of this thread, I'd be curious from those on this board who have had the experience of raising children while cruising and what they feel has been posative about it for the kids... for instance has it strengthened character in some way or led to some sort of perspective that adds to their lives?

Some people are content to live in the same place. Traveling out of town is not of interest. These people can not understand why other people need to visit other places. Seems to me there are different interests and neither person will be happy.

Hi
<As I use OpenCPN during my summer trip, I erased my trace by error. I would like to restore it on my file in order to keep my trip in mind
Is someone can help me on this matter ?
Thank's a lot.
Regards
Conan

Got to remember that life (and people) ashore / "Home" do also move on with life, even if they remain physically in the same place. As the years go by relationships change, and fade away..........easy to come back and discover that your old life has dissapeared - even if it looks the same, and many of the same people are still there.

Well said David.

The kernel of truth lies in your sense of self.
Ocean voyaging has given me the greatest insight into who I think I am and how I want to live my life in this world. It is a multi-faceted prism of different experiences that adds to the richness of your life experience and each individual will garner from it what they need. It is often not comfortable and challenging, and many will run away from it!

Others, like myself, keep setting sail for more.

__________________"What am I seeking, out on the sea, somewhere to go, or someone to be?"- "Orion", Eileen Quinn

According to “Deep Thought” (Supercomputer in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), the "answer to life, the universe, and everything" is 42.
And that is the meaning of life. Now you know, with no need to go cruising.

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Gord May "If you didn't have the time or money to do it right in the first place, when will you get the time/$ to fix it?"

I have recently had a debate with my mate - he was questioning the whole idea of cruising for years, which i am so passionate about. For me it seems that after cruising for 5-6 years, i would come back a different person. I would meet so many different people, cultures, and maybe i could answer The Question - what is my meaning here, on earth
He argues however, that you don't have to travel somewhere far to distant lands to look for it - so we have everything right here and now, and we don't need blue water and remote islands to seek answers.
What was your experience? I would love to hear it
Did you find The Answer?

I think you both may be right. There is a certain solitude in dropping off the grid. When you have no inputs, you can sort out what is in your head. It is like meditation, but without the practice and training, Do you need 5-6 years to do that? Hope not! If sorting things out is your goal, save thousands by investing in a top-shelf kayak and lessons on how to master it. A few weeks each year traveling in a kayak or other small boat is great therapy for the over-stressed. Take the rest of the money you save and travel Europe on the cheap....

Having done both, my goal in getting into this level of sailing is not my head, but as others say the experience.

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"Whenever...it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off- then, I account it high time to get to sea..." Ismael ---- NEW website! www.USCGMaster.com